Step away from the Space Lego

[ExpectoPatronum]

This is my first time on the Feminism board - I've only just found you!

This morning, DD (7) was playing with the Space Lego - lunar landscapes, spaceships, various astronauts and rocket launchers.

DS2 (5) appeared on the scene:

"No, no, sorry DD, please move away from the Space Lego, you'll only break it. Sorry, but this is a boy's toy, it's not for girls. Girls don't know about space, you'll just break it and not know how to fix it"

I'm pleased to report that DD fought her corner. And of course, I told him that we didn't gender code toys, that she was allowed to play with it just as much as he was, that she was just as capable of rebuilding it. And I told him about women astronauts and physicists. And I pointed out that given that his sister is particularly good at numeracy and science, there was no reason why she couldn't be an astro-physicist, should she wish.

But where the hell does this attitude come from?

DH is not like this at all, and DS2 sees him cook, and clean, and iron. His grandfather is the most egalitarian left-wing 66 year old you could ever meet. How have we ended up with a chauvinist 5 year old?

Suggestions, please, of things I can do to educate him, and also things I can do to ensure DD stays confident, and strong and ambitious.

(off now to tape pictures of Pamela A. Melroy to the fridge)

Dunoon - I would like to addDinner Lady and Lollipop man.

and of course all the nurses are female and doctors male here

I don't not-buy Sylvanians because they're sexist, though.

I don't buy them because they're overpriced, poor quality rubbish.

I love Sylvanians and luckily the three DDs don't seem to follow the somewhat outdated roles assigned to the figures.

Their Bratz now..................

fwiw there's a Sylvanian Brother at Home <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.sylvanian-families.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/sylvanian-families-brother-at-home-set.jpg&imgrefurl=www.sylvanian-families.co.uk/tag/sylvanian-families/&usg=__18zu1VJoj7b1b2DS1vBpTc-V-FM=&h=250&w=250&sz=48&hl=en&start=0&sig2=6Zkf5BKXZ780stPP3N18tQ&zoom=1&tbnid=_t4FHIeh7GeRBM:&tbnh=147&tbnw=146&ei=UJ_KTcakE83TsgbRu5HNAw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsylvanian%2Bbrother%2Bat%2Bhome%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1R2RNWN_en%26biw%3D1419%26bih%3D705%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Divns&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=830&vpy=180&dur=406&hovh=200&hovw=200&tx=87&ty=109&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here

to save you clicking on the link, he is in a toilet

I bought it for dp for his birthday, along with the Sports section of the paper

I see I may have to make a run of t-shirts . . .

Watch this space.

They seem to learn it by osmosis from other boys. And so do girls.

With plenty of encouragement at home they get over it.

Ds2 is now the proud owner of a Lego Amy pond.

Although you'd struggle to recognise her....

I was on a similar thread the other day which I started over a boy's surgeon outfit that I bought in sainsbo's. I was saying that in general dd1 (3) will play with anything but when we are in the shops or flicking through catalogues she is very much of the 'these are boy's toys and these are girl's toys' mentality. I also said (which I thought was rather profound even if I do say so myself ) that it is difficult to break them out of that mentality because on the one hand we are teaching them to follow rules of polite society (don't hit, do as authority tells you) but then we try and get then to break the rules of gender imposed by shops society.

I'm really surprised that Lego is often seen as a boys toy. It's just bricks FFS. I can (very relucantly!) understand that people see things like princesses and soldiers along gender lines, but bricks?!?

Very sad :(

My DD loves Lego and all that stuff. She likes Thomas too, and come to think of it I've never seen a girl in the fan section of the magazine.

Wobbly, I think it's not so much that people gender code the bricks, per se, more the construction skills required to play with them: logic, spatial awareness and so on. And when a construction toy is ever marketed at girls, the standard product has to be re-packaged in pink and lilac, just in case the effort required to put one primary coloured block on top of another makes their pretty little heads explode.

DD, who is a budding Dr Alice Roberts and can do lightning fast maths in her head, nevertheless had pink'n'lilac Magnext bought for her by a wellwisher.

(Although, when DS1 was 2 and channelling Ariel the Little Mermaid, my DM did buy him the full pink and turquoise irridescent MegaBloks set, and mighty pleased with it he was too).

at the female Lego figures belgo linked to.

My DD was given a box of pink princess megabloks, so I bought a big bag of primary colour ones to water it down a bit!

pink megablocks! Megablocks are crap enough even in non pink colours.

Stick to Lego.

Aww no my DCs like the megabloks, moving on to duplo soon though (DS not big enough for Lego yet)

Duplo is fab. You will see the difference